Winston-Salem State University’s Center for Community Safety (CCS) has been selected to provide technical assistance and training support for Weed and Seed programs in eight states around the nation to enhance their ability to help ex-offenders return to communities from incarceration.

The 2008 Reentry Public Safety Initiative, a product of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO), is a 13-month technical assistance project that will enable the selected cities to promote and sustain a variety of initiatives geared toward helping individuals reenter communities after they are released from prisons and jails. Weed and Seed, a (DOJ) community-based strategy, is an innovative and comprehensive multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization.

Most Weed and Seed communities have a high concentration of ex-offenders returning to their communities, many of which are already taxed with limited resources and high crime rates.  It is known that in 2007, more than 700,000 people were released from state or federal prisons.  In response, Weed and Seed helps reduce crime and recidivism, and bridges and leverages resources within a city to improve public safety in the geographically targeted communities.

Utilizing its eight-year history in addressing community justice and community safety issues, WSSU’s CCS will lead the project with the eight communities to address their reentry public safety needs.

The selected cities are: Phoenix, AZ; Palm Beach, FL; Indianapolis, IN; San Antonio, TX; St. Louis, MO; Pawtucket, RI; Irvington, NJ; and New Bedford, MA.  WSSU’s CCS along with other expert consultants will provide the identified reentry training and customized technical assistance for each of the selected cities.

The training will be delivered via site visits, web- and technology-based tools, and through participation in the CCDO’s national conference in July 2009.

Each selected city will gain access to a broad range of benefits, including:

• Direct access to national experts;
• Individualized program design and implementation support;
• Understanding and implementation of a data-collection process for measuring outcomes and evaluation;
• Assistance exploring the federal and state funding options available to support local reentry programs; and
• Opportunities to participate in a cross-site national network.

Project lessons and ideas will be shared with other sites nationally through the DOJ’s and CCS’s partnerships through articles, publications, workshops and on-line communications.  The CCDO has provided funding for project activities.

“We are honored to continue this role in this national effort,” says Alvin Atkinson, interim director of WSSU’s CCS. “WSSU’s CCS has served in a training and technical capacity role to the CCDO each consecutive year since 2005.”

The newly formed Gay-Straight Student Alliance (GSSA) at Winston-Salem State University in partnership with WSSU Black Men for Change (BMC) hosted a lecture  by Brandon G. Major, talent management manager with Food Lion, LLC, and a panel discussion Dec. 4.

Major’s presentation, which was free and open to the public, was entitled “Black, Male, and Gay in Corporate America: The Unique Challenges and Opportunities.” The presentation was followed by a panel discussion featuring triad-based diversity officers and human resource professionals.

Panelists will include Donna Oldham of Dell, Inc.; Candice Wooten of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.; and Ed Hanes, Winston-Salem State University EEO Officer.

BMC strives to help empower African-American males through knowledge to rise above negative stereotypes and become productive assets to their communities. The GSSA seeks to build and develop positive relationships between the heterosexual and gay communities. Collectively, both groups strive to inform its members of various personal and professional development opportunities.

For more information about the GSSA contact Shaun Trotter, community service chair of BMC at 252-571-4175 or e-mail him at strotter106@wssu.edu, or call Brandon Hughes, president of the GSSA at 704-458-7085 or Shannon Clarke, vice president of the GSSA at 704-930-1315, or co-advisor Thomas Clarke at 336-750-3333.

Diggs Gallery Director Belinda Tate

Winston-Salem State University’s Diggs Gallery hosted a closing reception for the Herbert Gentry exhibition, which ended its run Dec. 6.

The public was invited for one last chance to experience the art of Herbert Gentry and enjoy an evening of light jazz, cookies and hot cider.

Herbert Gentry: The Man, The Magic, The Master was Gentry’s first major retrospective in the Southeast and the exhibit has attracted thousands of visitors as well as hundreds of kindergarten through 12th grade students.  The closing reception was the final event at Diggs Gallery.

Gentry (1919-2003) was raised in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance.  He was influenced at an early age by jazz, theatre, and dance.  The spirit of the performing arts is still seen throughout his paintings.

Exhibit painting by Herbert Gentry

The exhibition explored more than 50 years of Gentry’s expressive and improvisational figurative abstractions and documents over 40 years of the artist’s career in Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Malmo and New York City.  It features generous loans from the estate of Herbert Gentry, the personal collections of Gentry’s widow Mary Anne Rose and George N’Namdi, and three works from the George and Carmen N’Namdi Collection at Winston-Salem State University’s Diggs Gallery.

Winston-Salem State University’s School of Business and Economics is getting support from BB&T in the form of a $40,000 pledge to fund academic scholarships for high performing students in the school over a two-year period beginning in 2009.

Each year the bank will donate $20,000 in scholarships. “We are extremely pleased about our growing relationship with BB&T,” said Dr. Jessica Bailey, dean of WSSU’s School of Business and Economics. “These scholarships will help us to continue to attract and keep highly qualified students who will help to drive the economic engine of this community.”

“BB&T is proud to be affiliated with Winston-Salem State University and we applaud the university’s commitment to providing outstanding opportunities for their students,” said Rodney Hughes, senior vice president and director of the BB&T Charitable Foundation.

WSSU’s School of Business and Economics is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, the premier accrediting body for business education, one of a select group internationally to achieve this distinction.

Winston-Salem, NC-based BB&T Corporation is the nation’s 14th largest financial holding company with more than 31,000 employees and 1,500 banking locations in 11 states and Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit BBT.com.

Dr. Joti Sekhon

The entire community was invited to join in Winston-Salem State University’s “Global Connections” International Week activities during the week of Nov. 17-22.

The schedule of activities, most of which were free and open to the public, included a presentation and discussion from the former ambassador of Turkey to the United States, presentations from faculty and students about study abroad and opportunities to study abroad, informational exchanges, discussions related to global conflict, films, a dinner featuring international cuisine, and soccer games.

“We wanted to showcase all the varied and diverse activities across WSSU with an international dimension. In addition to the lecture by the former Turkish Ambassador to the US, several events

Dr. Osman Faruk Logoglu

highlight the international research and scholarship of faculty members,” said Dr. Joti Sekhon, WSSU director of International Programs. “We also wanted to highlight the educational and cultural experiences of our study abroad students and international students.”

Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) School of Education and Human Performance recently signed agreements with five school districts in the Piedmont Triad to help to produce more teachers and school administrators.

Chancellor Reaves, members of his administrative team, and representatives of local school districts discuss memorandum of agreement.

The major goal of the agreement is to formalize opportunities for the university and school districts to collaboratively work toward the preparation of teachers and administrators based on the new North Carolina 21st Century Standards and North Carolina General Assembly’s House Bill 536.  That recent bill requires teacher education programs to collaborate with school districts.

The participating school districts included Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Davie, Surry, Stokes and Lexington City School Districts. The agreement specifically engages the School of Education and Human Performance and the Department of Education with school personnel in these districts. The relationship will support active recruitment of high school students into teacher education, collaborative sponsorship of professional development activities for faculty and staff, cross-functional teams in the development of new academic programs, collaboration on state and national accreditation processes, and establishment of a formal alliance that supports quality teaching and learning. The agreement term is five years.

Dr. Donald J. Reaves

” I think this formal collaboration indicates that Winston-Salem State University and the School of Education and Human Performance are committed to working at every possible level with our school partners to provide the best teachers and administrators for the state of North Carolina” said Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, dean of WSSU’s School of Education and Human Performance.

As part of its master planning process for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Corridor, Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) S.G. Atkins Community Development Corporation (CDC) extended an open invitation to all Piedmont Triad residents to participate in an input meeting December 8, at the United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, located at 450 Metropolitan Drive (at 4th Street and U.S. 52) in Winston-Salem.

Entitled a “Concept Charrette” and sponsored by WSSU’s S.G. Atkins CDC, the event was intended to gather suggestions about making the MLK Jr. Drive  corridor,  the intersection of MLK and New Walkertown Road to MLK and Waughtown Street, an attractive destination that is a pedestrian and business friendly environment with products and services for university students, staff, faculty and Piedmont Triad  residents at large.

“We wanted to hear the specifics from the people of the community,” said Carol Davis, S.G. Atkins CDC executive director. “We did not want to make any assumptions.  Our goal is to plan an attractive community that provides easy access to a diverse variety of fun restaurants and shops, and other businesses and services that the community will tell us they need and want.”

According to SG Atkins CDC officials, a “concept charrette” is an intensive creative session in which community members, working with a professional design team, concentrate on specific planning and design challenges and present solutions.  The term comes from a French word meaning “cart,” and is reminiscent of the days when 19th century French architectural students hurriedly sketched as they rode carts to the place where their plans would be graded.  This commonly used format for group decision-making seems most logical for soliciting broad community input into the revitalization of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Corridor, S.G. Atkins CDC officials said.

A team composed of Master Plan consultants from the architectural firm of Brailsford and Dunlavey, and S.G. Atkins CDC personnel will conduct the session. The team will work with members of the CDC’s Master Plan Advisory Committee, WSSU students, faculty/staff, community residents, small businesses, private developers, and other stakeholders from the MLK Corridor to consider the area’s planning goals, as well as what specific design and program elements should be included in a development vision and plan for the area.

The SG Atkins CDC began its MLK Corridor Master Plan Project in the spring of 2008, with visioning sessions for CDC Board and project Advisory Committee members, WSSU officials, and others in the area to better understand what current perceptions, ideas, and goals were for the future of East Winston. In addition, a land use assessment of each parcel in the area, along with a market analysis of the economic potential and the remaining challenges for the MLK corridor, has been completed.

Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) School of Business and Economics has registered its finance degree with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., (CFP) and university officials  scheduled a reception to make the announcement Dec. 8.

The event celebrated WSSU’s registration with the CFP Board of its Bachelor of Science in Finance degree.  Courses registered by the CFP Board, help students prepare for the certification exam.  Sponsored by a national organization headquartered in Washington, DC, CFP Board certification is the most widely recognized professional certification in the field of personal financial planning, with more than 58,000 individuals in the United States currently holding CFP certification and record numbers of other individuals working to obtain the certification.  CFP Board of Standards has registered more than 300 college and university certificate and degree programs.  WSSU’s School of Business and Economics officials believe that it is one of the first HBCUs in the nation to obtain this registration for its bachelor’s of science degree.

“Graduates from this program should have good regional and local prospects for employment with large financial institutions in Winston-Salem and in other major cities in North Carolina,” said Nicholas A. Daves, WSSU Center of Excellence in Financial Services director and instructor of finance.  “Population demographics, with upcoming retirements among the baby boomer generation’ and the attractiveness of North Carolina as a place to retire create increased regional demands for knowledgeable financial professionals,” Daves said.

CFP board-registered programs are financial planning education programs at the college or university level that meet specific criteria for educating individuals who wish to fulfill the education component for obtaining CFP certification. Individuals who meet CFP Board’s education requirement are eligible to sit for the CFP Certification Examination.  Successful completion of the education and examination components completes two of the core prerequisites to obtain CFP certification.  A program may be an undergraduate, graduate, doctoral or non-credit certificate program, but all programs must meet several core requirements.

“We are very pleased with this important recognition for WSSU and its School of Business and Economics, and we look forward to working with the CFP Board of Standards to keep our curriculum fresh and focused on current personal financial issues,” said Dr. Jessica Bailey, WSSU School of Business and Economics Dean.

WSSU will offer courses to cover the 89 personal finance topics deemed necessary by the CFP Board of Standards for individuals to take the nationally administered, two-day examination, which is part of the qualification process to become a certified financial planner.  The required topics are covered in the advanced financial planning, income tax accounting and insurance planning to personal financial planning, microeconomics, principles of macroeconomics and retirement/estate planning.

“Students will take the required courses principally during their junior and senior years, so we should begin to produce graduates who want to continue their pursuit of the CFP designation in another year or two,” said Daves.

In addition to passing the examination, individuals must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and three years of qualifying full-time work in the financial planning field.  They also have to agree to abide by the CFP Board’s code of ethics and financial planning practice standards.

“We believe that individuals who qualify as certified financial planners have earned the highest and most difficult standard to attain professional designation in the field of personal financial planning,” Bailey said. “And that is where we want WSSU graduates to be.”

D'Walla Simmons Burke

to D’ Walla Simmons Burke, Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Winston-Salem State University accepted the Larry Leon Hamlin Legend Award from the Winston-Salem Urban League for her community service in the arts in the city of Winston-Salem, NC.  Burke was recognized for sharing her talents as a vocalist and conductor with the city of Winston-Salem.

The Delta Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

The Delta Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. at Winston-Salem State University conducted the chapter’s 12th annual overnight sleep-out for the homeless campaign Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. near the Greek plot on campus.

Activities surrounding the event included the collection of nonperishable food items, school supplies, and clothing items for the homeless, which will culminate with the all-night sleep-out to raise awareness about the homeless in the Piedmont. Members of the fraternity and students supporting the initiative slept in cardboard boxes, sleeping bags, and tents.

The fraternity set up a makeshift cardboard city near the Phi Beta Sigma monument on the university’s Greek plot near the Cleon F. Thompson Student Services Center.

Clothing items were donated to the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission, while the nonperishable food items were given to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. The school supplies were donated to Project Hope of the Winston- Salem/ Forsyth County School System, and the monetary donations given to the Samaritan Ministries Annual Penny Campaign.

Sleep-out for the homeless participant

This year’s Sleep-out For the Homeless event generated 17 boxes of clothes and 2 boxes of shoes which were donated to the W-S Rescue Mission; 500 pounds of non-perishable food items were donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank (2 weeks worth of food for 2 agencies); $350.00 were donated to the Samaritan Ministries Soup Kitchen (which will provide 1400 meals). That compares to last year’s totals, which came to340 pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank; $50 to Samaritan Ministries Penny Campaign; and nine (9) boxes of clothing items donated to the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission.

Tom Joyner

The Tom Joyner Foundation, a charitable organization that assists African-American students in financial need at HBCU’s across the nation, has chosen Winston-Salem State University as its School of the Month for March, 2009. The foundation will highlight WSSU’s many accomplishments, conduct live interviews, and spotlight major national and local donors while profiling scholarship participants.

WSSU needs your support to make this campaign successful. Throughout the month of March, Tom Joyner will ask his listening audience to call in donations or to go online to blackamericaweb.com to donate to WSSU. Don’t miss this opportunity to support WSSU as we raise funds and awareness, nationally and locally, through this unique national exposure.

Dr. Brenda A. Allen

Dr. Brenda A. Allen, a developmental psychologist, seasoned administrator, academic leader, and prolific scholar with almost a quarter century of experience in higher education has been named Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU).  Dr. Allen will also be a tenured member of the faculty, holding the title of Professor of Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Work. Currently Dr. Allen holds the position of Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.  At a called meeting earlier today Dr. Allen’s appointment was approved unanimously by the executive committee of the WSSU Board of Trustees.

The selection and appointment of Brenda Allen is the culmination of a national search for the right leader to serve as chief academic officer of the University, and “I am absolutely thrilled that Brenda Allen has agreed to join the leadership team at WSSU, said Chancellor Donald J. Reaves.  “We are indeed fortunate to have been able to attract and recruit Dr. Allen to WSSU.  I am sure that she will provide the critical leadership that this University needs as it continues its transition from an exclusively undergraduate university to a graduate level institution with a focus on quality teaching and research,” said Reaves.  “The search committee and I sought the right person to assist me in leading this institution, and we found that person in Dr. Allen who brings with her a strong commitment to excellence in teaching, research and service.  I am excited about her selection and look forward to working with her,” said Chancellor Reaves. Reaves added that “her experience will cultivate a sense of excitement and innovation on our campus.  She is the right person, in the right position, at the right time.”

Allen’s primary responsibility as Provost and chief academic officer is to provide executive level leadership for the institution as it pursues its academic mission.  Dr. Allen will be responsible to the Chancellor for the overall coordination and effective implementation of the University’s academic programs, and will exercise leadership in promoting quality instruction, research, and university and public service. She will have lead responsibility for developing and administering the academic policies and regulations of the University, and in collaboration with  other senior officers, she will have lead responsibility for the development of the University’s annual budget and long-term financial plans.

As Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, Dr. Allen will provide oversight and leadership of the following academic and operating units: the School of Business and Economics; the School of Education and Human Performance; the School of Health Sciences; the School of Graduate Studies and Research; the College of Arts and Sciences; and University College.  Other units reporting to the Provost include: Information Resources (IT and the Library); Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research; the Division of Lifelong Learning (Evening and Week-end Programs, Continuing Education, Distance Learning and Summer Session); the Honors College; the Registrar; the Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning; the Center for Community Safety; the Center for Health Disparities; and the Center for Design Innovations.

Prior to joining Brown University Dr. Allen held a number of academic and administrative positions at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.   Promoted through the ranks at Smith to Full Professor Dr. Allen served as the chair of the African American Studies Department, the Assistant to the President and Director of Institutional diversity, and Special Assistant to the Provost.

Prior to her tenure at Smith College Dr. Allen spent three years at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut where she held several positions, including Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Psychology, and Lecturer in the Departments of Psychology and African American Studies.

Dr. Allen is an active researcher and a prolific scholar.  Her credentials include numerous refereed journal articles, several book chapters, and a forthcoming book that is under contract. Dr. Allen’s research agenda is an active one and she has continued to publish while holding administrative positions, and has another book prospectus in the works.  She conducts basic research that is designed to assess the effects of culture on various cognitive processes, and she has focused her work on aspects of African American culture with the goal of informing school reform efforts geared towards addressing the disproportionately high rate of academic failure among many African American children.  Dr. Allen has also enjoyed success as a grant writer having received two grants both of which were in excess of $3 million.

Dr. Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Lincoln University in Lincoln, PA, a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and a doctorate in Developmental Psychology, both from Howard University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Allen will begin her duties At WSSU on July 1, 2009.

Dr. Vivian Burke

Dr. Vivian Burke, a member of Winston-Salem City Council delivered Winston-Salem State University’s Fall 2008 Commencement address on Friday Dec.19, at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The retired guidance counselor and Industrial Education Coordinator of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System, urged the more than 400 graduate and undergraduate students participating in the ceremony to be encouraged even though the country was going through tough times. She reminded them that, “this is a strong country, and people love to come to this country.”

She also reminded them about the high unemployment the plagued the nation during other critical periods in its history like the Great Depression in the 1930s. She urged to stay calm.

“You have to be in control of yourself and your destiny,” said Burke.

Among those who heard Burke’s message was 55-year-old Everett Dumas, an interdisciplinary studies/public administration major from Winston-Salem, who decided to get his degree after retiring from the military as an Army Sargeant, 1^st Class. He and his wife, of 25 years, Jannifer (also retired military) were looking forward to his graduation day.  She had been there for her husband every step of the way as he

Everette Dumas

worked his way toward graduation. The couple went to bed Sunday night, Dec. 7, but Jannifer did not wake up Monday morning. For Everett, who buried his wife Saturday, Dec. 13, crossing the stage to receive his degree was bittersweet with the knowledge that his greatest supporter and partner could only be there to enjoy the moment with him in spirit.

“My wife was the one who really encouraged me to go back to school,” said Dumas. “She felt education was the key to a better life and greater success. She always said our house was one of higher learning.”

Marie Jolande Massenat

For Marie Jolande Massenat, a Clinical Laboratory Science major, graduation meant experiencing a piece of her American dream. Massenat a native of Haiti, who now lives in High Point, NC, was eight years old when she first came to the United States. “I’m proud to say that I’m the first to graduate from college in my family. I’m opening doors and becoming a good role model for my nieces and nephews.”

Zena Jackson is a full-time employee of WSSU in the School of Education and Human Performance. This mother of four children completed her Business Administration degree in the School of Business and Economics.  She has two teenagers and twins, one with a health issue that requires constant monitoring.

Zena Jackson

She began her quest to obtain a degree 16 years ago and has taken courses every semester- on-line and in the classroom to reach her goal. She did all of this while caring for her mother, her children and the School of Education and Human Performance.

“In the equation of life, you just have to keep working the problem until it works out. If you stick to it and don’t give up, things usually work out,” said Jackson.

Juanita Penn, who supervises WSSU’s Red Room, the faculty and staff dining facility, decided at age 57 that she wanted her degree. Not only did she go back, the Interdisciplinary Studies/Social Welfare major from Winston-Salem

Juanita Penn

graduated Magna Cum Laude. “This is a dream true,” said Penn, the mother of two adult children and grandmother of five. “This became a hidden desire of mine after talking to a lot of professors and others who encouraged me to get my degree. God made all this possible.”

A Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) School of Health Sciences faculty member has received a Fulbright commission overseas, and the School plans to host a Fulbright Lecturer from offshore, for 2009, WSSU officials announced today.

Dr. Glenna Batson

Dr. Glenna Batson, associate professor of Physical Therapy (PT) at WSSU has been admitted to the U.S. Fulbright Commission Roster of Senior Specialists. The Senior Specialists position awarded Batson a five-year post as a guest academic lecturer and cultural ambassador in academic institutions worldwide, beginning in January 2009.

Batson leads the neuromuscular curriculum in the PT Program at WSSU and has been instrumental in the founding and evolution of dance science since the early 1980’s.  Over the last three decades, she has integrated principles from kinesiology, neuroscience, motor learning, and mind-body disciplines into dance pedagogy.

Batson will spend eight weeks at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London (http://www.laban.org).  The prestigious institution has invited Batson to teach in their dance science programs as part of an ongoing U.S./European initiative to promote dance wellness. Batson will teach at various levels of the Masters curriculum, consult with faculty on training principles, and mentor dance science students with their theses.

Professor Ann Maureen Phoya, Director of Nursing in the Ministry of Health in Lilongwe, Malawi, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at WSSU during the 2008-2009 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Phoya will serve as a scholar-in-residence in WSSU’s School of Health Sciences, where she will lecture on the globalization of nursing education.

The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 286,500 people – 108,160 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad, and 178,340 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the United States – with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas, and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s in habitants.  The Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

Fulbright recipients are among over 40,000 individuals participating in the U.S. Department of State Exchange programs each year.  For more than 60 years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has supported programs seeking to promote mutual understanding and respect among the people of the United States and other countries.  The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council of International Exchange of Scholars.

The following is awareness information from the WSSU University Counseling Center regarding stress, anxiety and depression during the holiday season.

What Causes Holiday Blues?
Many factors can cause the “holiday blues”: stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over-commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with one’s family and friends. The demands of shopping, parties, family reunions and houseguests also contribute to feelings of tension. People may also develop other stress responses such as headaches, excessive drinking, over-eating and difficulty sleeping. Even more people experience post-holiday let down after January. This can result from disappointments during the preceding months compounded by the excess fatigue and stress.

Coping with Stress & Depression during the Holidays
Keep expectations for the holiday season manageable. Try to set realistic goals for yourself. Pace yourself. Organize your time. Make a list and prioritize the important activities.

• Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Don’t put the entire focus on just one day (i.e., Thanksgiving Day). Remember that it’s a season of holiday sentiment, and activities can be spread out to lessen stress and increase enjoyment.
• Remember the holiday season does not banish reasons for feeling sad or lonely; there is room for these feelings to be present, even if the person chooses not to express them.
• Leave “yesteryear” in the past and look toward the future. Life brings changes. Each season is different and can be enjoyed in its own way.
• Don’t set yourself up in comparing today with the “good old’ days.”
• Do something for someone else. Try volunteering some of your time to help others.
• Enjoy activities that are free, such as taking a drive to look at holiday decorations, going window shopping or making a snowperson with children.
• Be aware that excessive drinking will only increase your feelings of depression.
• Try something new. Celebrate the holidays in a new way.
• Spend time with supportive and caring people. Reach out and make new friends, or contact someone you haven’t heard from in a while.

Save time for yourself! Recharge your batteries! Let others share in the responsibility of planning activities.

To commemorate Facing AIDS: World AIDS Day 2008 and raise awareness on this important issue, Winston-Salem State University hosted the 2008 Mini-Conference on AIDS, December 1.

An estimated one million Americans are living with HIV with worldwide numbers exceeding 33 million.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006 alone, 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States.  The battle against HIV/AIDS is being waged on many fronts-including research on HIV transmission and treatment; caring for people living with HIV; designing more effective prevention strategies; developing an HIV vaccine; providing housing for those living with HIV/AIDS, etc.

Co-sponsored by WSSU’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Work, the conference featured guest speakers: Amy Lindsey, Community Relations Director at AIDS Care Services, Ambassador Molelekeng Rapalaki, Diplomat -in-Residence at WSSU, and Dr. Scott Rhodes, assistant professor in the division of Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Observed every year on December 1st, World AIDS Day was established by the World Health Organization in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community associations, and individuals with an opportunity to promote HIV risk reduction, and educate, motivate, and mobilize communities to fight against this global pandemic.

R.J. Reynolds Center

The R. J. Reynolds Center, which houses Winston-Salem State University’s School of Business and Economics, will soon receive a facelift thanks to a $408,567 Title III grant to renovate the building.

The building was constructed in 1984 with a $3.1 million dollar gift from the State of North Carolina, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and other donors. For the last twenty-four years, the building has housed, primarily, the School of Business and Economics (SBE).  As the SBE prepares for the ten-year reaffirmation of its accreditation with AACSB in 2010, it faces the reality of a building in need of repair and renovation.  A consultant’s report in 2006 pointed to the need to invigorate the physical environment of the school in order to meet reaffirmation standards.

“This activity will involve the renovation of the main lecture hall, selected classrooms, hallways, stairways, and the bathrooms in the building,” said SBE dean Jessica Bailey, who secured the grant. Specific actions to be accomplished include the following:

• Refurbishing Room 136 lecture hall which is used for WSSU faculty meetings, speakers, and numerous other events. That project calls for the installation of new tables with laptop ports at each station; installation of new, stationary chairs that are user friendly and ergonomically correct; and installation of new carpeting throughout the room;

• Installation of rubberized flooring on the stairs and landings of the stairwells, and painting of the walls of the stairwells;

• Installation of new bathroom stall walls, including updated hardware, installation of new tile flooring, and painting of the walls;

Throughout the building:

Installation of new carpeting; newly painted walls and trim; and hanging of artwork;

Installation of tables and chairs in four classrooms to accommodate 36 individuals.

The renovations are scheduled for Spring 2009.

Dr. Craig Richardson is an associate professor of Economics in the WSSU School of Business and Economics. But, did you know that through his experiences, he has become an expert on the affairs of the African nation of Zimbabwe? He recently shared how that happened.

I began my interest in Zimbabwe in 1992, working for a summer as a research assistant at the World Bank, while I was completing my Ph.D in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That summer, I was assigned the project of writing a large background paper on Zimbabwe, a country I knew nothing about, and also unrelated to my dissertation. However, the thought of learning so much about a country in Africa certainly intrigued me, so that summer I learned all about the history, culture, economics and politics of that country. Zimbabwe was doing relatively well then, called the “jewel of Africa” for it fed itself, and exported grain to the rest of Africa.

Craig Richardson (left) with U.S. Ambassador for Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell. Richardson was invited to Zimbabwe by the U.S. Embassy in 2006 & 2007 for meetings with government and business executives, as well as a presentation at their annually sponsored conference.

Then I took a job at Salem College and basically that paper went into a file drawer, where it remained for a good ten years. However in 2002, as I began reading with increasing interest how this former jewel of Africa was now collapsing at an astonishing rate, I resolved to dust off that paper and take a sabbatical to learn what had happened. The result was a book, published by Edwin Mellen Press, in 2004, titled, The Collapse of Zimbabwe in the Wake of the 2000-2003 Land Reforms.

The book’s central thesis was that the government’s intention to redistribute lands from a small minority of wealthy white farmers to a majority of black farmers may have had admirable intentions, but in practice it was a ruthless way for President Mugabe to hand out wealth to his friends, cronies and military heads, in order to stay in power.  Few poor blacks benefited, and more than a million lost their jobs after the thousand acre commercial (and world class) farms owned by the white farmers fell into disuse, since the people who replaced them lacked the skills to farm. The white farmers fled to neighboring countries, and set up business there.

This book ended up getting quite a bit of attention from think tanks in Washington, and I was invited to give presentations for government officials, scholars, and the press in 2005 and 2006. Then word reached the United States Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, and I was invited to Zimbabwe in October 2006 to present my findings to more than 300 top-level executives, government officials and heads of non-governmental organizations, at a business conference. That conference was attended by people from South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, as well as Zimbabwe. Although controversial in some ways, I presented a lot of empirical evidence showing the country’s collapse. One research finding I showed was that when the commercial farms owned by the whites were confiscated, this caused a complete loss of borrowing power on the part of the new farmers, since the titles were revoked. No longer could the farms be used as collateral to buy tractors, outbuildings and irrigation pipes.  Sales of tractors went from 5,000 to 8 in one year.

In addition, I used Google satellite photos to show the before and after effects of the land reforms. There was simply no arguing with these photos.

My research aimed to show that the government’s claims, that the economy’s collapse was due to drought, was simply a myth, concocted to lay blame on others.

I was very fortunate to also have been invited to speak in other far-flung places, such as University of Gloucestershire, England, and Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Peru.

In October 2007, I was again invited back to Harare for the same business conference and this time tried to present a more positive approach, by contrasting Zimbabwe’s catastrophic collapse with its northern neighbor, Zambia, which is having very strong economic growth now – not coincidentally – also respecting the rule of law, property rights and opening up their markets to international trade. The point was to show there are some positive success stories in Africa, despite what we read in the press. In fact, all of Zimbabwe’s bordering neighbors (Botswana, S.A., Mozambique, and Zambia) are growing quite positively.

Zimbabwe remains such a compelling story because it is a country really hinging on the possibility of a dramatic turnaround. I have hope for Zimbabwe, even though inflation is now 10 million percent per year. The good news is that regime change always follows hyperinflation.

May I also say that my interactions with the Zimbabwe people have been nothing short of extraordinary.  I have been welcomed into homes of complete strangers, wherever I went. By and large, they are a gentle, well-educated, charming and wonderful people, who patiently wait for better times. We should note that despite a stunning collapse, there have been virtually no riots, and people quietly wait in line for hours to get food and money. This peaceful nature, respect and kindness for others will go a long way towards the rebuilding of the country. Indeed, Zimbabwe’s people are one of the country’s finest invisible assets.

to the WSSU Child Development Center and Lab School has been chosen as a demonstration site for the Center for Social Emotion Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL).  Our center is one of four sites in North Carolina.  The focus of this project is to support healthy social and emotional behaviors in young children and their families. The three-year-old class, facilitated by Mrs. Tameka Rover-Brown and Mrs. Deresa Pace, will serve as the “model” for the Lab School. The Center’s director and all of the lead teachers participated in a four- day training session in Raleigh.  As a result, all of them are now certified CSEFEL trainers and are qualified to provide training to other educators and providers.

to the entire university family which donated a total of $32,445.00 to charitable organizations — the second highest contribution in the history of the university (the 2007 amount totaled $35,569.00). I would like to extend a personal “thank you” to Dr. Terry Stratta, SECC University Chairperson, and to Ms. Deidra Gilliard, secretary for the WSSU campaign, for their coordination of the WSSU State Employees Combined Campaign. The success of the campaign can also be attributed to the efforts of 60 captains who helped distribute and collect pledge forms. I have been notified that next year we will be “going green” by adding the option of donating online.  Congratulations once again for your generosity during these difficult economic times.

To Dr. Elva Jones, chairman of the Computer Science Department at Winston-Salem State University, who was recently recognized by The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), for demonstrating proactive leadership in advancing diversity. Her achievements, along with four others will be celebrated and recognized at the ITSMF Annual Awards Gala on February 13, 2009, at the Four Seasons in Dallas, Texas. The other recipients to be honored include: Monte Ford, SVP and CIO for American Airlines; Dr. Randal Pinkett, Chairman and CEO of BCT Partners; Dr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Africa Chairman Middle East & Africa for Microsoft Corporation; and, James D. Cook, VP Data Center Transformation at HP.

Carole A. Winston

to the WSSU Maya Angelou Institute which will sponsor the attendance of Petree Elementary School’s third grade classes to the Winston-Salem Symphony’s January 24, 2009 performance of Peter and the Wolf Meet Alice in Wonderland, to be performed in the University’s Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium. We are so excited about bringing the children and their parents to the concert as part of our mission to “improve child and family education,” said Carole Winston, director of the institute.  Prior to the concert, the Institute will donate books related to the concert topic to the third-grade teachers to help them prepare the children for the event and to use in their curriculum of writing assignments. The MAI’s current initiatives are geared towards improving literacy for early learners through a variety of experiences, including music, art and dance appreciation, parent-child reading opportunities, and mentoring experiences that include reading and writing events. Several members of both Real Men Teach and Black Men of Change are currently mentoring students at Petree Elementary. They will take part in this event by chaperoning, sponsoring, and reading to those students who attend the concert.